ilovemagic: i love the game.

This post has been edited 45 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 30.08.2012 18:38.

Disclaimer!!- This post is updated regularly for anyone who wants a quick bio of moi
Hey everyone!! My name is Andrew and I liked to play my poker mostly online. Now I play live because im negligent when it comes to correcting my tilt problem.

account status: Very Active

Busto count: 7
I received a 2nd starting capital from pokerstrategy just today (july 3rd 2012)
Busto count soon to be 8
I started playing poker when I was at the ripe age of 15, and stopped shortly after losing $3000 of my life savings
P
I am 22 now, and have been just mostly around the game instead of playing for the last 6 years or so. I am now back into playing many hands/hours online and I came across this site as I typed in poker strategy on google one night while I was wanting to study the game.

It was an absolute blessing to be able to do everything we do here on PS (videos,articles,HM,coaching sessions,forums,posting hands, blogging, helping others start their poker careers), and I knew I had found something VERY special when I got an email saying my $50 was on the way just for answering a silly little quiz correctly. I would say each coaching session alone was worth $50.

I am not playing a tracked account anymore, so I plan on paying for silver status at the end of this month because the coaching sessions help keep my head on my shoulders and ahead of the fish at Stars.

check out this song "I wanna be a billionaire" by travie mcCoy and Bruno Mars.

She tried to tell me her idea of a BRM strategy, which was fine until i convinced her that I was going to follow the PS pro's PROVEN advice instead of her unproven (amateur) advice/opinions when it comes to poker.

I explained how these have all been tested and true for many successful online poker players and that I am trying to give it my absolute best effort, despite the recent losses and tilt sessions.

She said write down this years goals on a piece of paper and then blog it so its there for you, and everyone else on PS to see that can support you as well in your journey. Here's what I came up with:

1) Practice proper stop-loss (ex. "I'm feeling a bit tired today, but I want to play anyway, so 2 BI will be it for today." "I'm feeling great today with no distractions around the house and I'm focused. I think I can handle losing 4 BI before shutting down the tables today.")

2) Practice proper BRM all the time once I reach $50 ( right now I had to just redeposit $15 and I got that up to $23, so that should be enough for NL2 at the moment, its all i can afford, if not just keep depositing whatever I can if somehow, for some wierd reason I lose my mind again, and go busto.)

ANYWAYS I plan on having 25 BI at all times minimum for whatever limit I'm playing at the micros. Will reevaluate later on if necessary.

3) Move up as many limits as I can this year while still maintaining proper BRM
and playing my A+ game to do so.

4) Buy silver/gold status so I can continue past lesson 7 in the beginners course and participate in other things around the site at free will.

5) Play only to win. This means not playing while in a gambling mood, or when I think there's a fish/donk sitting at the table who needs to be taught a lesson about how to play poker.

6) Find 2-3 players who share the same short and long term aspirations as me on this site by seeking them out in blogs and coaching sessions, other threads etc. and start a focus group to do work off the tables with.

7) Attend 1 or more coaching sessions per week.

8) read 1 or more strategy articles per week.

9) reread different strategy articles over again once per week to gain better understanding of them.

10)do the same thing with strategy videos (watch and rewatch them)

11) Post at least 10 hands per week on the eval. forum

12) evaluate at least 5 hands of other players per week on the eval. forum

13) complete up to lesson 7 or higher of the beginner's course

14) blog once or more per day giving updates and analysis along with just real life stuff..gotta keep it real ya know? shark cool

15) Play poker only when the baby is not awake as to avoid neglect or distractions, among other things.

16) stop playing fucking omaha....its not good for my soul.

17) FINALLY, as if all these things weren't enough PLAY SOME HANDS! 1K hands (or way more) depending on the day of "zoom" poker should be enough at the micros for now. Not sure how it will end up or if it will last, but from what I seen today, its going to be a hit and lots of people are going to love it who are in the same boat as me (wants to play but needs to do other things then just sit on poker all day).

I feel that if i stay focussed on the long term goals here, (and stop worrying about my 95% ALL IN going into the river, only to be lowballed by the 2 outer, go on tilt and lose it all.) then I will remain successful for longer then a period of 21 days. I want to learn at these limits more then win $ and that is what I will remain most determined to do at this time in my career. I need to start implementing stop loss and use proper brm most of all if i want to continue playing and not lose my ass if i get to the higher stakes (NL100+).

thanks for reading..hope it inspired and caused you to think about your own game !

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who run this site. I hope one day to be able to do coaching sessions myself on here as an employee or even as a mod !!!
but thats a long way away

I will be reporting lots on here so please check in to see how I am doing

I currently play the zoom tables and am trying out the new HEM2 zoom tracker software free for 30 days, but i plan on buying it outright asap.

just finished my first real attempt at multi tabling sit n gos. i played 8 at a time, about 12 in all, cyling in new ones as i was eliminated from other ones, spent .25 on each one, $3 total, 45 ppl each one , and made 4 final tables, here are the results:

You finished the tournament in 5th place. A USD 0.93 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

made $4.70
spent$3

profit of $1.70

Conclusion:

I found that 8 tables was way too much, but 4-5 seemed really good once I got down to that number I found I was more involved in reading the other players and making better decisions overall. I felt very comfortable playing my strategy and took lots of bad beat and never got upset or changed my play style because of it.

Overall grade: B+

I think I could've did better if I play less tables. 5 at a time seems optimal at this point. Most importantly I had fun
I actually almost won one, had the guy down to 20k in chips,then he got QQ and I got AQ
but thats just how it goes. I never recovered.

I definately reccommend the .25c sngs for beginners at Pokerstars. The fish count is incredible. I had a record number of people go all in vs my AK AQ AJ with A-2 today....I couldnt imagine what they thought they were beating with A-2.. anyways signing off for now

This post has been edited 5 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 14.12.2011 20:52.

just playing the NL2 ! using my newly installed and custom setting elephant poker tracker so far up over 150 BBS in 30 mins

the only stats im using for anyone who wants to know is vp$ip/pfr/wts%/# of hands..i work off of a little notebook...like 10 or 11 inch screen so i cant have a lot of stats clogging up my tables.

just had to cut the session short because my son just got home (11 months old
..hes a handful) but overall I like what the elephant offered me when I used it correctly and didnt try to track every stat availible, just the most helpful ones. I would definately say its a forgone conclusion that the elephant will help me in my young career until i can afford a better HEM. why i havent used it to date is beyond me.

But anyways from that $23 dollars i reported having when I deposited a few days ago, I've grinded it up to $31 now so I'm out of the absolute red zone as far as buy ins go and I am always happy to be playing with winnings rather then money I deposited
I havn't actually had to dip below the initial $23 beyond my first few games, so I'm experiencing a nice little upswing to start off my week, which means I won't have to deposit again on payday, which makes me ecstatic

anyways this is the only real nice hand I've had today out of my limited play, so I will post it for all to see

I thought he was bluffing and I was right
but the amazing thing here is if i raise at any point in this hand, I'm not sure if im getting as much value as smooth calling down his bets in this situation.

Right now I am single tabling because of my small screen laptop, i just cant focus on multiple tables without being able to tile them.

Anyways I am crushing the $7, 9 man sngs right now, trying to work up a nice roll for myself. I find pokerstars has great amounts of fish at these levels. I think I've played in like 7 or 8 now and have only lost out on one and it was a bubble finish due to a bad beat (my QQ vs his AJ all in preflop. he hits ace end of story)

If you like soft competition and $7 stakes then thats the place for you! I just hope you dont end up at my table or i'll take u out

JK !

But I can try

not a whole lot to say today, I guess my new years reso. is to not go on tilt to the extent that i lose my whole bankroll anymore!!

I do think that was a useful comment to be honest. I've seen many a player make a blog and start out 'ha, I'm crushing, I'm owning them, I'm reading them perfectly' without any sample to back it up. Just saying you have all the right to be excited, but keep that in mind.

I used to say I kept it in mind, but when the first downswing came, I lost it and tilted way too many dollars away. That's all I'M trying to say

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 31.12.2011 16:07.

thanks for sharing your experience with me
I have the same experience as you, but it was more internal for me. i was confident, making good reads, getting lucky in all the right spots. but when the trigger happens and i go on tilt, or im tired...nothing ever goes my way. Im working on not felting myself when i go on tilt though, i have set a restriction for table limits with pokerstars (they added this feature and i am very pleased with it so far, because as crazy as this sounds, i have gone on tilt and tried to get on the big limit tables and got rejected saying i need to remove the restriction before playing on this table. And I think to meself when this happens..."man im glad i put that restriction on
"
You know your on tilt when you set a restriction on table limits, and KNOW you cant get on them even if you tried....but STILL CONTINUE to waste time trying to get on them!!! thats insanity at its purest...knowin something just physically isnt possible, and trying to do it anyways
WTF LOL

BRM BABY. know your limits and stick within them using any possible tools availible to help !!!!

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 12.01.2012 23:48.

Hey everyone! just getting back from a long hiadus from poker (2 days is a long time for me). Anyways things haven't been going my way lately..I hope this is a sign of things to come, I just registered in this $1, 3K guaranteed tourney on stars, first hand this happens lol, and remember, things are not going my way lately...so when I got 3 preflop callers, my first reaction was, "Shit!"

I've been playing a whole new style of offense here with things I've been learning all across the board here at pokerstrategy, however theres not really been any discussion for the most part or at least what I've seen about how to adjust the way you know people percieve your play at the table when you begin to play a new style.

Basically ev er since I got the elephant, I adjust my vpip and pfr to whatever I need to (ex. tight table I open mostly every pot) (loose table I only open with hands I'm not just going to fold to a 3-bet).

I used to play basically the same way , but a little less practised so to speak where I would be aware of how the table was playing, yet I wouldnt adjust my style accordingly, I would just think about it and thats it. and would proceed to lose my money.

my question is to everyone:
How do I know if people are adjusting to my play at the table

How might they adjust to me and how can I know if they are even payin attention or not?

How do U know if someone is really aware, or if they are just faking it?

im not really looking for one exact answer to these Q's but please try your best

im basically having a downer right now because I'm not used to the way people play back at me now that im playing a higher volume of hands and a higher raise preflop rate. im used to everyone folding to my AA whenever i get it even at a 25% vpip and 20% pfr, but i usually get a lot of action on most other hands...as per the course.

i guess im just sad but i know i'll come around...i always do eventually !!!

I have to say I'm not an expert at your game type, but I find at these low levels, no matter the variant, people aren't paying even half the attention to the table dynamics you obviously are. Obviously you come across the odd one or two, but not many I should think.

It is of course, evolutionary theat the regs will adjust, whereas the weaker players may adjust out of spite.
How you tell the difference betweent he two I have no idea in tourneys.

This post has been edited 3 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 26.01.2012 19:32.

Hi everyone!

Ran into this megafish today. its like he would only bet sitiuationally(ex if you bet he folds but if you just check and let him bet, raise him, only then will he call lol!!), and for some reason, thought people wouldnt play back at his 50/50 preflop stats...yeah after 100 hands the guy still had chips playing 50/50 lol..anyways i figuerd him out before e1 else, and almost had all his chips, hero calling his all in with middle pair, thinking i was ahead, and being way ahead before getting sucked out on river, but i got 2 more good all ins on him before he was astounded at what i showed, and left quietly...

i dont ever play kings this way , but i found a cool way to exploit his preflop style which i would only try against players with his particular style. he NEVER 3-bet, and he would call most any 3-bet however. which seemed wierd. His post flop play was horrendous, so yeah the rest was easy.

after this hand he said "wow....nh", as to say, "wow, you fooled me!" lol and left...which made me sad because i was being very nice to him.

anyways, playing against these types is really fun because it forces lots of players who arent paying enough attention into a lot of mistakes, and gives players who ARE paying lots of attention like me, LOTS of profitable situations !

This post has been edited 2 time(s), it was last edited by ilovemagic: 26.01.2012 19:38.

Hi everyone!

What I'm doing today:

-I'm gonna hit up a few other NL2 peoples blogs today, try and get them to post on mine as well.
-hit up some hand eval. discussion
-donate a bit at the NL2 tables. ex when my KK gets stomped all in preflop on the river when he hits flush...ugh. that was like 2 hands in.
EDIT- drink a little vino

Now that my whole game has completely changed and I've started winning more all in's and folding more monsters when I think they're beat, instead of check calling , praying they dont have what deep down inside i know they have
, I feel great about my poker game (although i def. desire to keep learning) and hope to learn more and actually start making some profit!

So someone had suggested this thing called sharkscope.com today in their blog. I was curious to find out how it worked so I went there, searched for tourneys at pokerstars under $10 and found a 18 man 6-max, $1.50 sng with 2 fish bowls which I felt was suffice for my ability , so i entered it just to see what would happen.

I sat in either 1st or 2nd thruout the tourney, was getting lucky making sick hands and getting them to do basically whatever I wanted the whole tourney. The search engine definately worked. here are some fun, funny and just downright hilarious hands. These arent really for analysis, because I had specific reads on my opponents all game and did play my own style which differs from basic sng strategy just a bit. But it works when I have my head straight. Its kind of a laggy style perfect for 6-max.

had this guy figured out real fast. I knew he whiffed the river just by the way he played the hand, but i figured a min bet would make me look weak and he would go big with his air. i dont usually use the min bet. i dont like it that much.

usually i just check behind on this river, but his min bet just screams weakness and I know hes betting bigger if he has something here. my line was b/f even tho in long run its a flip between b/f and c/c river here. I make small value bet here to extract value from any A-x pairs